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The Brawl At The Bank
I walked down the dirt path, sniffing the air. It was crisp and cool, with a light breeze flowing through the air. There was barely a sound to be heard, save for the slight jingling sound of several coins clinking together. I held the burlap sack full of golden coins and jewels over my shoulder, slightly sagging to one side because of its weight. The coins were going to the Iron Bank of Braavos, to keep them safe and sound. I could see the kingdom in the distance, but I sighed, for it was at least an hour’s walk away. Trotting down the path, I heard something rustling in the bushes behind me. I turned to investigate, and I thought I saw something… fuzzy ''disappear into the shrubbery. I squinted at the brush, but it was still. I sighed, before continuing on the path. ''Jus’ my imagination. As I walked, I hummed a song that I heard while I was enslaved. '' We’ll drive out the Stormcloaks, and restore what we own, the age of aggression is just about done… ''I couldn’t remember the rest of the words. * * * Some time later, I got to the kingdom of Braavos. As I passed through the gates, I could see that the guards were just standing there, wooden and unresponsive. I asked one of them for directions, and he dutifully answered, pointing towards one of the largest buildings I had ever seen. Walking through the markets, I could hear lots of people shouting for attention, trying to interest people to by their wares. Someone shoved me onto my rump, followed by a hateful insult. I quickly leapt up onto my haunches to shout a retort at my assailant. “Hey, watch where you’re going!” But he was gone. I grumbled, and continued on my way. The Iron Bank was a gargantuan stone structure, known for being one of the biggest banks in the world: I set down my bag of gold, and pushed open the door with a loud groan. Stepping inside, I dragged my bag of gold in with me. I leaned it up against one of the desks, and clambered onto a chair. Sitting opposite me was an elderly half-dragon, who was writing something on a piece of parchment. His scales had an orange color to them, with a violet trim. I cleared my throat, and he looked up. “Ah, a client… Are you withdrawing, or depositing?” His voice was creaky, and he coughed. “Neither, sir. I’d like to make an account.” I said. And without another word, I hoisted up the burlap sack, and dumped all my gold out onto his desk. He raised his eyebrows, and he chuckled. “Come into a bit of money, have ye’?” He picked up a gold coin with his scale-covered fingers, before dropping it back into the pile. “Quite a bit of money.” “Yeah, a big adventure that I went on seemed to reap a huge reward.” “Adventurer, eh? I used to be an adventurer too, always goin’ off into th’ forest to look for treasure. I once thought I had found the fountain of youth, but as you can see from my current state, that didn’t happen.” There came a few screams from outside, and I turned around just in time to see a gang of three gnolls kick down the door and burst in. The half-dragon screeched in fear, and I leapt from my seat to engage them in battle. They belligerently looked at me, and I let out a small squeak of fear. I quickly realized that this was a mistake, because I didn’t have any weapons, and the humanoid hyenas were armed to the teeth. I spoke to the demon concealed in my amulet for help. Auxilium, daemonium! Arma prope sunt? The demonic whispers just hissed out a “No”, and I cursed. I promptly ran at one of the gnolls, and tackled him to the floor, punching him with all my might. One of his friends kicks me off, and I stealthily grab the prone gnoll’s knife. I hop back onto my feet, and take a few jabs at the gang. They all eye me angrily, as the gnoll I knocked down slowly gets onto his feet, wiping blood from his mouth, and growling at me. “Voo nuy’chackt.” One of them says, and the others chuckle. The third gnoll raises a crossbow at me and fires. The lanced shaft of the bolt scuds along the air, and it hits me square in the chest. I stumble backwards, before collapsing. My eyes flitter open and closed as death come near. Suddenly, I hear a loud roar and I turn my head towards it. The half-dragon has stood up, and he is mad as hell. “You can break in here uninvited and you can smash down my doors, but don’t you dare hurt the newcomers!” He vaults over his desk, and charges towards them, screaming with rage. The gnolls are so shocked at the sudden turn of events, that they don’t know what to do, even as the half-dragon banker rears his head back, and breaths a large burst of fire at the gnolls. Two of them catch immediately, and run around yipping in fear as their fur goes up in flames and their flesh slowly boils. The last one pats out the fire on his arm, and he draws his bow back, an arrow pointed straight at the half-dragon. As I lay there, bleeding out on the ground, I knew that I had to do something, and so I threw my newly acquired knife at the gnoll. It misses the gnoll itself, but it cuts the bowstring, giving the half-dragon a chance to attack. The last thing I saw before I died was the half-dragon biting down on the gnolls neck, and the gnoll screeching in pain. * * * Someone jars me awake, and I sit up on the cold marble floor of the Iron Bank, gasping in pain. The first thing I saw was the half-dragon standing over me, a scroll in his hand. “Easy there, small one. You were dead for quite a while, but I managed to bring you back.” I coughed up a small amount of blood into my hand, before wiping it on my tunic. “D- dead?” The half-dragon nods his head, and holds up the scroll. “I used a resurrection spell on you to bring you back from the plains of Oblivion. I was worried that you would be gone forever.” I shakily get to my feet, and look at my pile of gold, still waiting on the table. “So anyways… can I open an account here, or what?” The half-dragon chuckles, and leads me to his desk. We conduct our business, and I step out of the Iron Bank, feeling a bit sleepy. I look around for a tavern, an inn, or any place I can rest for the day. I finally find one a few minutes later, and I walk inside. I ask the bartender if there is a room available, and he says that there is just one left. I paid him, staggered over to the bed, and passed out.